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The Thirteen Ascendants
Mortals Made Divine Their are many beings that exist in the Shrouded Realm that would call themselves gods, born when the world was formed. These beings are called Aetherborn, as they were formed from the divine energy that permeates the Realm. These beings are arrogant and mighty, using their powers to inflict upon Ici'Taria any boon or punishment their hearts desired. Or at least, they did, before the birth of the Ascendants, once mortals who had attained godhood through some profound act. The Thirteen Ascendants stand watch over Ici'Taria, acting as sword and shield against the tyranny of the Aetherborn. In this section, I hope to detail the core aspects of the Thirteen, including their personal history and how they came to be Ascendants, how they protect the people from the Aetherborn and how they might appear to the people - and adventurers - of Ici'Taria. The Thirteen Ascendant *Artemarrius, the Wildqueen, First to Ascend *Uzume-Ama, the Rhapsodist Divine, beloved of Kyred-wen *Kyred-wen, the Alchemical Maiden, beloved of Uzume-Ama *Taro-Rian, the Trickster Guard, the Youngling God *Ezrim Kai, the Councillor of Heaven Artemmarrius, the Wild Huntress, First of the Ascendants Artemmarrius was born in the ancient kingdom of Cedanar, in what is now modern day Dynas Tsutendraum. Her father was a great warrior, who died before she was born protecting a village from the predations of Torzal, the Strifemonger. Her mother was the legendary archmage Disana, whose powerful magics, while not enough to stop the Aetherborn permanently, were strong enough to repel them if they came too close to her city-bastion. One day, when Artemmarrius was merely an infant, a crew of cultists in service to the Strifemonger stole into the city's keep and kidnapped the young girl. Their intentions were never proven, but likely as not they were either going to ransom her in exchange for her mother or use her as bait in an elaborate trap. Their true intentions were not to be, however, for their airship was attacked by a passing air elemental myrmidon, and Artemmarrius was, by great luck, the only survivor of the crash. Unfortunately, the airship crashed down in the Forgotten Wilds, a place rife with unusual and powerful arcane energies, that even the storied archmage of Cedanar could not breach. Lost, alone and scared, little Artemmarrius crawled out of the wreckage of her prison, and wandered into the trackless forests of the Wilds. She stumbled through the strange woodlands for days, unable to find anything to eat or drink, until, almost dead from starvation and thirst, she was found by a family of tabaxi rangers. Two among them, a young, newly mated pair named Dawn and Thunder, who had been denied the gift of their own child by the cruelty of fate, took the young half-elven girl as their own daughter, and raised her to learn the ways of the Wilds. For years, Artemmarrius grew up among the hidden tracks of the Wilds, learning to embrace the chaos of nature and walk hand in hand with the wilderness. One day, when she had grown old enough to venture out on her own, she tracked her way out of the Forgotten Wilds, and sought out the mother who she had lost. It took many months of searching to find her lost homeland, as she had only the vaguest memories of a land beyond the mountains, but find it she did, and she was welcomed home to a heroine's celebration. But the joy of their reunion was marred by what the young huntress had witnessed on her journey home, for the land was marked by evil - poverty and death were rampant throughout the kingdom, and the people she passed were as refugees, but with nowhere to go. After some time, she finally managed to convince her mother to reveal the truth of the matter. Disana told her daughter of the grief that had overcome her when she disappeared, and that in her pain she had lapsed in her vigil, and allowed the spirit of the Strifemonger to settle in her lands. Now he was here, it was beyond even the vast powers of an archmage to evict his presence. But where Disana only lamented her failure, Artemmarrius could think only of ways to remedy the situation. After much discussion with the other sages and spellcasters that served her mother, they eventually found a common link between their cultures - a reference to a place of power that the folk of the Wilds called Forestcrown, and the people of Cedanar and the surrounding kingdoms called Meridevertezen, the capstone mountain of the Peaks of the Colossus. Atop it's summit lay a magical rift, one that leaked and spewed the powerful cosmic energies that fueled the magic of the world; the same cosmic energy that gave birth to the Aetherborn. Although not without reservations for losing her daughter a second time, Disana armed Artemmarrius with the knowledge of how to reach the peak and breach the magical barriers that surrounded it, and with a proper farewell, bade goodbye to her daughter for what would truly be the last time as she set out for the top of the world. Her journey took many weeks, traveling through the treacherous Peaks, and then climbing it's tallest mountain. Ever a daunting exercise, her travels were further imperiled by the Strifemonger's agents, for he had foreseen what she intended, and set all of his worldly resources on her pursuit. But the fury in her heart was equal to every foe she faced, and every obstacle in her path was quickly bested, until at last she arrived at her destination. The only known record of what happened next comes from a journal kept by her tabaxi companion who traveled with her, whose given name was Stormwind; his journal describes his friend casting aside all her worldly belongings, and with his aid inscribing upon her skin a complex pattern of arcane sigils that fueled her own innate power, before invoking a powerful ritual that took many hours to complete. At the end, as the first rays of dawn pierced the sky and fell upon the mountaintop, she took her trusted blade, and fueled with more arcane power than she should have been able to hold, she thrust it into her heart. As her mortal life came to a close, the roiling energies of the cosmos flowed into her dying form, and she was reborn. On that day, she became the First of the Ascendants, and finally had the power to take on the Strifemonger. The first the people heard of her ascendancy was a mighty wind that blew down from the mountains, and with it came all the elements of a raging storm. Lightning crashed down upon the land, the very wrath of nature itself come to cleanse the land of Cedanar. But where most people fled the carnage in fear, a few brave souls saw that the storm was not striking everywhere; only the corruption of the Strifemonger was struck, and bit by bit his foul presence was pushed back, until at last only Torzal himself remained. Over the Storm Plains, the Strifemonger and the newly ascended Wild Huntress came together to do battle. For three days and three nights, the two deities fought ceaselessly, with the corrupting force of the Strifemonger clashing against the wrath of the Great Storm, the fury of the natural world at this invader. Finally, on the dawn of the fourth day, Artemmarrius struck a fatal blow into Torzal's heart, and with the combined powers of both herself and her archmage mother, he was banished from the realm, never to return again. At the centre of the Plains, it is said a great obelisk was raised, imbued with the divine power of the First Ascendant goddess to permanently maintain the forbiddance that kept out the Strifemonger, and a great monastery was built around it to protect it from his many agents. Noone knows the exact location of the obelisk in the modern era, only that it is likely near to the city of Tsutendraum. Indeed, the city attracts its fair share of historians and magic students every year in search of the legendary artifact. Some scholars even doubt its very existence. But what is for certain, is that these lands were the first touched by the First Ascendant. Even now, she keeps watch over all the wild places, maintaining the balance between the natural world and the civilizations upon it. Artemmarrius generally finds her worshipers in the wild folk, rangers and druids in particular pay special homage to the patron of the wilderness. It is also said that the tabaxi, as her adopted people in her first life, are specially guarded and ever in her heart. Shrines to the Wild Huntress take the form of sacred groves and copses that are blessed with nature magic. The guardians of these shrines encourage nature to take over, and are often only distinguishable from the surrounding wilds by the vibrant beauty that these shrines exude. Travelers and adventurers who rest in these shrines can do so with their guard down, safe in the knowledge that they are watched over by the most powerful of the Ascendant gods.